An Addition to the Family of Fy Nyth

I've been thinking since last spring that I needed a cat around to help catch mice among other things. No, I have never had a mouse in my house, but if you were following me last spring, you'll remember the steady flow that kept getting in my van which was extremely frustrating. Anyway, that idea finally had results.

Meet Wynn. The newest member of Fy Nyth's household. She about 3 months old and I adopted her from a gentleman who did not have room to keep both her and her brother, both of whom he had adopted from our local shelter when then were smaller. She came home with me yesterday afternoon when I got off work and now I have quite a few days off work to hang out with her while she settles in. Which she seems to be doing quite quickly. 

Now I have had pets for a while in the form of my composting worms, but Wynn is the first bigger pet in my house. And in my life in nearly a decade. The rental market is understandably not friendly to pets, but owning my own house has made that an option for me once again.

Yesterday she ran around the house and checked everything out first.

Then she settled into the couch and batting around a ball of yarn. And chasing one of my reusable grocery bags around the floor, inside and out of it. This seems to be her favorite toy, but she's always so busy "attacking" it that she's only a blur in those photos. 

I was mildly allergic to most cats growing up and this was and is a concern for me. So far we seem to be getting along well enough as long as I don't cuddle her right up against my face and she's not allowed in my bedroom loft. Hopefully it stays that way and we can stay together. I do have another friend who would love her just in case my allergies do act up too badly, but the plan is for her to stay right here.

She's very much a kitten still and goes back and forth rapidly from playing hard to crashing to nap for a bit. Her kitty bed sits on top of her covered litter box, both in the base of my shower which seems to be working well. When I woke up this morning, she was stretching and yawning in her bed still. 

She loves attention, petting, and to cuddle. It was hard to get a good photo of her curled up in my lap, but when a friend came over for dinner, she settled right into his lap purring away as well. She's got an amazingly loud motor for such a little thing! 

She loves playing on the couch and walking along all those windowsills behind it to watch the outside world where it is snowing once again. Once she has been here long enough to know this as home, and especially as it warm up toward spring, she will hopefully be able to spend some time outside hunting mice as well. But she needs to grow up a bit first. There are too many foxes, owls, and coyotes around here for a little kitty to make it outside. 

Now she is very contentedly napping behind me while I type. I think she likes her home here in the tiny house! Plus she's awful cute, don't you think?

One Year Since Fy Nyth Arrived

I know throw-backs are supposed to happen on Thursdays. At least that's what social media seems to have decided. But this is an important anniversary for me. One year ago today, my life changed in a pretty big, or maybe tiny, way. When my very own tiny house, Fy Nyth arrived here in WY.  Just a few days before, she was just a frame and then a shell in a factory in CO. 

I think this shot was from just the day before she started her trip north when she was nearly complete.

A year ago, the weather was much like today. Maybe a little less snow and wind than we had today, but the same snow covered ground and blue skies were around when she rolled in after a nearly 600 mile drive. 

Even though she was furnished with all the appliances and most of the furniture built in, she looked pretty bare and empty upon arrival!

And I had even piled a few things inside already before taking this shot. That's my mattress still rolled up and compressed from shipping, on the floor. I still sleep on this every night and find it quite comfy. And that's a bag of peat moss sitting off to the side. Ready to fire up my brand new composting toilet. 

Now, one full year later, Fy Nyth is looking a lot more homey. She's full of food, cookware, books, clothing, plants, flowers, antique chests, and other little things like home made wreaths and my great grandma's hand made quilt on the couch. 

She's lived in, loved, and comfortable. Very much home to me. I've learned a lot and gained some new skills in a year of living tiny and off grid.

The outside has a different look too. She's now stained dark grey to blend well into her surroundings. She also now resides up the hill in a clearing above where she first rolled in last winter. Still surrounded by trees and snow though. These photos are from today. 

She is so warm and cozy. I feel like the name I picked, "My Nest," really fits. I love living here and have no regrets at all about having moved into a tiny house a year ago. I don't know if this will always be my life, but I am happy here right now and really love this little clearing I call home.

It's hard to believe it has already been a full year. Many thanks to all who have helped me get to this point. Tumbleweed for building my amazing house. And to Meridian Credit Union for the loan they gave me. To my sis and brother-in-law, Athalie and Rowan for cosigning on that note. To my friend Clay for finding me this sweet spot to park. To Seth for always being there for me and encouraging me to go for a tiny house. To George and Joan for allowing me to park my house on their ground. To my parents for teaching me a lot of useful and old fashioned skills that I have used in the last year. To my friends who haven't give up on me through some rough years. And many other people in my life.

 Here's a hot mug of spiced cider and whiskey to many more years right here!

Chocolate, Reading, and Snowfall

I'm curled up on my couch eating this amazing chocolate bar. That's my dessert after a dinner of a Thai dish with noodles, steak strips, and home grown veggies with a good friend. And yes, even with temps in the twenties, snow on the ground, and snow coming down right now, I still picked fresh herbs and even the last of my brussel sprouts out from under the snow and they were all quite tasty. I can't believe it's almost the middle of November and I can still eat fresh veggies from under the snow! And did I mention there are flakes falling from the sky right now? I love watching it snow. And I love my tiny house.

P.S. I'm not really into "seasonal flavors" and all, but after buying this chocolate bar for a friend and getting a taste of it, I wanted more just because this is an amazing flavor combination! Oh yeah, and because I just love good dark chocolate in general.....

Now to work on this stack of books and dream about planting next spring. All from the library or a friend. One of my favorite things about the fact that it is winter now is more time do do things like read. Which I also love doing. I hope you are all having an equally lovely evening!

The Arrival of Winter at Fy Nyth

Snow, snow, snow. It's looking like winter around my house now! It was dumping when I went to bed and I awoke to this beautiful layer of white snow and a stunning sunrise with blue skies. I do love watching it snow and settling into a winter pace now with few outside projects and a nice pile of books to read among other things.

Getting Cold

Frost around Fy Nyth this morning. Crisp crunchy white crystals everywhere. It was still about 22 F. as the sun was rising. Yesterday morning it snowed a little here, but I was at work so I couldn't get a photo of that. The forecast says to expect some more snow today. Winter seems to be starting finally. Pretty late for this area, but I'm ready for some slow snowy days with no outside projects and time to curl and and read, cook more complicated meals, and just relax. 

Tiny House Insurance

A little bit ago, I wrote about looking for a new insurance policy for Fy Nyth. (Here) Now I have a new policy in hand and thought I'd give you all an update on what actually happened. 

I have to have insurance since I bought a pre built house with an RV loan from my local credit union. (More on that decision here.) And since they consider it an RV, just like buying any other vehicle with a loan, you do have to carry full coverage insurance until the loan is paid off. So insurance I must have. At least for a few years.

A year ago when I bought my house, there was only one company I could find who was willing to insure my house. RVAmerica. I paid them for a year. Now, a year later, I thought with the movement toward tiny houses taking off, I should look around and see what else is available now. 

So I called lots of insurance companies. Many of the same ones I had talked to a year ago. A year ago, most agents I talked to responded with, "Um, what? I never heard of that. No I don't think we can insure that." This year, it was much different. I got lots of "Oh! Like those cool little ones I've seen on TV! They are so amazing! I'm so jealous, I want one. Let me check if we insure them." So it's encouraging that whatever you think about reality TV, people have at least heard of the idea in a positive light now.

I still got some phone call back though saying, "I'm so sorry, we don't seem to offer policies for those." Or, since I happen to live in the least populated state in the union, "I'm sorry, we do, but we don't offer plans in your state." 

The best options I had in this state seemed to be Darrel at http://www.insuremytinyhome.com or Farmers. Darrel is the first person offering insurance specifically for tiny homes which is really cool. But he seems very slow to respond to either emails or phone calls, sadly. I did speak to him, but responses were very very slow. Farmers on the other hand was quite prompt. I'm sure different local offices may have a wide range of differences, but I am very happy with my local one so far. 

The agent I talked to went to check on what they offer, and called me back very rapidly. She seemed super excited about the whole idea. Apparently they now have a category called something like "Travel trailers that are stationary and full time residences." They seem to have invented this just to cover tiny houses. Also pretty cool! They do have insurance for collision too, but since I have no plans to move my house anytime soon, I was not interested in paying for that. She told me they have to actually look at and take photos of the house to send to their office. I teased her that they just said that so their agents all get private tiny house tours! ;) In a few hours after I first called the office, she had run home to get her mud boots, was following me back a dirt lane, and hiking up a pretty muddy hill thanks to recent rain, to check out my house. By the next day, she had everything processed and I ran into town to sign the paperwork and saved myself over $300 compared to what I had paid the year before.

Plus, while I never want to have to file a claim, I think Farmers knows what they actually insured. I never really felt that way about RVAmerica. I could have paid more and got coverage for personal items, a lower deductible, or collision as well like I mentioned. But none of those things were important enough for me in my current situation to make me want to pay for them. I'm just letting you know they were possible.

I tried to get as many details from the company as I could to give you all as much helpful info on this as possible. I know there are many others looking for insurance as well. This particular policy was available to me since I have a house built by Tumbleweed and they have an RVIA certification. One of the pluses of having purchased a prebuilt house by a well known name. Of course, it would be way cooler to say I built it myself, but there are some pluses on the other side as well. Famers did need the VIN and RVIA numbers from my trailer. I assume this would have worked if I had a house built by any other RVIA manufacturer. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had a home I'd build from scratch by myself. They may have insured it as well, I'm just not sure. Below is a copy of my new policy, just with some of my personal details blocked out. 

So overall, it looks like the insurance world at least is getting a little more accepting of tiny houses which I think is great. But they are still far from the norm, and lots of companies still don't know how to deal with them. I hope that if lots of us keep calling them and asking to pay them for insurance, they will become more and more aware of the demand for this service and figure out how to better cover them. So keep going! Keep calling! And comment with any info you personally have on this topic that I have not included if it would help other folks out. 

Garlic Harvest

Finishing up the garden harvest and preparing for more snow in the next few days. My first garlic crop! (Minus some we already ate.) Now I'll be able to plant in the fall this year and should have a much better crop next summer. I couldn't do that last year since my garden only came into existence this past spring.

Wood Cutting

Part of what I have been busy with (and hence hadn't been posting much) is wood cutting. Clearing out dead beetle kill pine, cleaning the slash up, and splitting a bunch of firewood. A lot of work, but the kind of work I enjoy. Only one smashed and one split finger later, we've done about 13 cords of wood. Paying down my tiny house loan!